Art of refrigeration



May 13, 1930.- B.I-H. 'CIOFFEY. 3 0

ART OF REFRIGERATION Filed Nov. 1'7, 1925 ,Patented May 13, 1930 UNITED STATES IBARTON H. COFFEY, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY ART OF REERIGERATION Original application filed August 9, 1920, Serial No. 402,403. Divided and. this application filed November 17, 1925. Serial No. 69,623. I

My invention relates to improvements in theart of refrigeration and particularly to the compression method of refrigeration in which is employed the evaporation of liquids 5 to efl'ectthe heat flow. In this method the refrigerating liquid such as sulphur dioxide, ammonia, carbonic acid or the like at a given temperature and corresponding pressure flows into a lower pressure and corresponding temperature, evaporation takes place at this temperature, the required heat being drawn from the liquid or refrigerant and the cooling body, thus lowerin their temperatures. The vapor formed is t en compressed and condensed at the original pressure and temperature, the heat being absorbed by a cooling fluid. The cycle thus reveals a closed circuit of refrigerating liquid-and vapor in contact but'not mixed, one section of which is kept at a high pressure, and the other at a low pressure accompanied by t woheat currents at difierent thermal levels and in opposite directions, i. e. at the lower level the heat current passes into the refrigerating liquid and at the higher pressure the heat current passes from it,'all of which is in conformity with the recognized laws of thermodynam-' Though rotary compressors have been proposedthe compression in the cycle has heretofore, tomy knowledge, been accomplished only with reciprocating compressors of various types possessing the complications and objections inherent in ,devices of this charac- 3 ter. The expansion has generally been through orifices or cocks which divides the :circuit and direct from. the high to the 'low pressure sections, thus losingthe external energy possessed by the expanding vapor.

The object'of my invention is to eliminate the compressor expansion cock and divided circuit to save the energy ofthe expanded vapor thus producing the carnot cycle, and

to attain the desired effect by gradually pro ducing the required variation of pressure and temperature inranu'ndivided closed circuit of refrigerating liquid. and vapor (which thus itself performs the compressing function) enclosed in a conduit. free from valves, expansion cocks and compressors. I attain of the cycle of operation to explain clearly this object by the form of my. device illustrated in the accompanying drawings but' modifications may be made therein without, departing from the spirit of my invention.

This application is a divisional applica tion of Letters Patent No. 1,565,795, dated December 15, 1925.

I accomplish .this object by the device illus trated in the accompanying drawings in which, q gigure 1 is a preferred form of my device, an

Figure2 is a diagrammatic representation the phases which it includes. 7

Figure 3 is a side view of Fig. 2.

. Similar characters of reference refer to slmilar parts throughout the several views.

-- In the device here illustrated,-I present a method of applying to the art of refriger- 79 at1 on the theorem that in a continuous conduit through which'liquidand vapor is flowingadiabatically the sum of the. heat energy and kinetic energy at every section is constant, in other words, variations of pressure and temperature may exist of' a magnitude corresponding to variations in velocity which in turn can be produced by variations in the area of successive cross sections of the conduit, 'As is obvious, the conduit may be a clgsedcircuitwithout affecting this law, and if energy be introduced in the conduit sulficient to overcome frictional resistances, plus a the energy equivalent to the net work of adiabatic compression the circulation becomes continuous and it is apparent that if low temperature heat is absorbed at the low pressure point of the. circuit and if it, plus the heat of adiabatic compression and friction and other heat added is discharged at the the compression type results.

The closed circuit includes a pipe or con duit l which carries the refrigerant. A centrifugal pump 2, having a rotor'3 which is driven by a motor 4 is inserted in the circuit. Surrounding the rotor 3 is a circular casing 5 having an axial inlet port 6 and an annular discharge chamber 7' from which the refrigerating medium is discharged at the port 8 high pressure pointa refrigerating cycle of to the conduit 1. As the pressure exerted by the rotor 3 varies directly with the mass and square of lineal velocityand inversely as the radius of curvature, it is evident that the rotating mass of liquid within the casing 3 can thus be made to show within itself any reasonable variations of pressure from center to circumference.

The refrigerating liquid or medium enters the rotating member 3 shown in full line at its axis or Ipoint of zero pressure 6. The rotating mem er 3 is preferably in the form of a bladed hollow drum fitting the entering conduit 1 at port 6, and is driven by a motor 4 through the medium of a shaft 9, and is preferably provided with suitable discharge orifices 10 at its circumference, open to the annular space between the casing 5 and the rotor'3 and thence to the annular discharge chamber 7 which may be ofcircular or volute shape. The circuit of the, cooling medium is through the pipe '1 and the brine cooler of any desired type 11, to the axial admission port 6 in the rotating member 3 and thence through the orifices 10 around rotor 3 to the annular chamber 7 from which it is again discharged into the pipe 1 through the out-,1 let 8 which may be tangential to the annular chamber 7. Within the casing5 I provide a circumferential annular space or chamber 12 surrounding the rotating member 3 through which cooling water circulates, thus constituting the chamber 12 a condenser.

The systemissupplied with refrigerating liquid and the-rotor 3 set inmotion, theliquid within the rotor will be rotated producing compression by centrifugal force which will progressivelyincrease from the center of the rotor to its periphery, thus setting up various pressure within the body of the liquid. As the liquid leaves the casing 5 at the discharge port 8, positioned near the circumference of the rotor 3, the pressure atthat point will'be greater than at the axial port of entry 6, whereby a circulation will be es-.

- tablished in-the circuit. If a small portion circuit includes two U-shaped) pipes. or conduits 14, 15. The conduit 15 is fixed in posijoined tog e a 19 to Mate with tion to each other, as by inserting the endsiof;

u-sectlon 14 m the e s 0f II 1 as compress it all in exact accordance with the shown. Therefore 20,, 20 will be an axis about.

which U-section 14 maybe rotated as it is to rotate about e axis line's a. I condenser 23 whiph condenses all mp0; in. the refrigerant liquidas it passes to the pump throughout.

caused by vapor condensation in the condenser 23.

The liquid at maximum pressure due to rotation of section 14 by motor 21 is forced by pump 22 in the direction of the arrows to circulate in the closed system '14, 15. As the liquid flows toward the center line of rotation- 20-20 the, pressure will decrease with a consequent decrease-in temperature and increase'in vapor. ,This is diagrammatically shown by the increasing Width of lines a. On entering section 15 evaporation stops until cooler 24 is reached in which brine cir culates, The liquid in the conduit absorbs heat from this brine. Passing thru the cooler the liquid flows into'the U-section 14 where the pressure gradually increases and. the vapor content decreases due to centrifugal force caused by the rotation of section 14. This is shown by the decreasing width of At the base of U-section 14 is a The deviating centrifugal force acts precisely as does gravitational force as described in m co-pending application Ser. No. 69,624, wlth one exception; the intensity of centrifugal force can be controlled. It is obvious that the pressure at any point in the leg 14 is greater than at the line 2020 and that a point could be selected to give a pressure difference equal to that imposed. upon the pump 22. As the conduit 15 is stationary, no centrifugal efl'eet exists and the pressure of the evaporator 24 is constant The fundamental principle of this method consists broadly in setting up various pressures in an integral body of refrigerating liquid in motion supplying low temperature heat to the system-at the points of low pressure and withdrawing high temperature heat at points of high pressure, the liquid serving as a transporting agent to move the vapor thus formed from point to point and to theoretical compression refrigeration'cycle. In my system theheat transfer. surfaces, the pressures and the brine temperature, the cooling water, the refrigeratin liquid circula-.

tion and the revolutions of t e rotor will all perature heat sup )lied and its temperature, that the refrigerating liquid leaving the condenser will be entirely free from vapor in suspension, at or below the temperature cor-.

responding to the maximum pressure in'the system, in other words, the heat in the liquid leaving the condenser willlbe in the sensible form only. As the liquid passes on, the pressure growsless and vapor will form, withdrawing heat from the liquid in'the latent form in suflicient quantity to make pressures and temperatures conform arriving at the brine cooler with minimum pressure and corresponding temperature, heat will be received at constant temperature accompaniedby a proportionate formation of vapor containing latentheatinquantityto balancethatreceived. As the liquid passes on it enters the zones of increasing pressure with this added quantity of vapor in suspension.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In a device of the character described, a continuous conduit of uniform constant cross-sectional area, fluid circulating means in said conduit, a cooler operatively positioned with respect to said conduit, a refrigerant in said conduit, and a condenser for cooling said refrigerant and means for producing variations of pressure and temperature in the refrigerant by centrifugal force. 2. In a refrigerating device, the combination of a valveless' conduit, a refrigerant in said conduit,'means to compress sald refrigerant by centrifugal force, means to cool said refrigerant and a cooler adjacent said conduit whereby heat in said cooler may be absorbed by said refrigerant.

3. In a device of the character described a closed conduit having two conduit sections, one of said sections being fixed and the other of said sections being mounted to rotate on said first section and condenser means operatively connected with said conduit.

4. In a device of the character described the combination of a closed conduit of two. sections, one said section being fixed, the other said section being mounted rotatably on said first section, means to rotate said section, a pump mounted in said rotatable section and condenser means operatively connected with said conduit. 5. In a device of the character described the "the refrigerant in the conduit.

a mixtureofliquid refrigerant and its vapor, centrifugal means for producing a zone of high pressure and a zone of low pressure in the .refrigerant,' said variations of pressure being produced by centrifugal force alone, a condenserand a pump adapted to circulate the refrigerant.

7. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a continuous conduit having two sections, one of which sections is rotatable whereby centrifugal force is generated to produce variations of pressure andtemperature in a refrigerant therein, means for circulating the refrigerantand a condenser.

8. .In a refrigerating system the combination of a conduit, a refrigerant therein, centrifugal means adapted to produce-pressure variations in the refrigerant by centrifugal head, a condenser and means for circulatlng 9. In a refrigerating system, the combination-of a source of low temperature external heat, a condenser, means for supplying .the net negative work of the cycle, a refrig-' erant, and means for producing pressure variatiions within the refrigerant by centrifugal hea In-testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- BARTON H. COFFEY.

frigerant circulating therein and comprising 7 

